Zone driving

ABSTRACT

A roadgraph may include a graph network of information such as roads, lanes, intersections, and the connections between these features. The roadgraph may also include one or more zones associated with particular rules. The zones may include locations where driving is typically challenging such as merges, construction zones, or other obstacles. In one example, the rules may require an autonomous vehicle to alert a driver that the vehicle is approaching a zone. The vehicle may thus require a driver to take control of steering, acceleration, deceleration, etc. In another example, the zones may be designated by a driver and may be broadcast to other nearby vehicles, for example using a radio link or other network such that other vehicles may be able to observer the same rule at the same location or at least notify the other vehicle&#39;s drivers that another driver felt the location was unsafe for autonomous driving.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/150,589, entitled “ZONE DRIVING,” filed Jun. 1, 2011, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/390,094,entitled “AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES,” filed Oct. 5, 2010, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/391,271, entitled “AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES,” filed Oct.8, 2010, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

Autonomous vehicles use various computing systems to aid in thetransport of drivers from one location to another. Some autonomousvehicles may require some initial input or continuous input from anoperator, such as a pilot or driver. Other systems, for exampleautopilot systems, may be used only when the system has been engaged,which permits the operator to switch from a manual mode (where theoperator exercises a high degree of control over the movement of thevehicle) to an autonomous mode (where the vehicle essentially drivesitself) to modes that lie somewhere in between.

These autonomous vehicles may maneuver themselves between locationsbased using highly detailed maps in conjunction with sensors fordetecting objects in the vehicle's surroundings in order to maneuver thevehicle from one location to another. This may require the vehicle tonavigate through areas where the driver may not feel particularly safeallowing the vehicle to maneuver itself. For example, a driver may feelless safe in areas such as merges, traffic circles, complicatedintersections, etc. which may be considered more complicated for anautonomous vehicle to maneuver through. Thus, the driver may feel theneed to continuously monitor the vehicle's location in case the drivermust take control of the vehicle. This may lessen the usefulness of anautonomous vehicle and the driver's sense of safety.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure provides a method for maneuvering avehicle. The method includes accessing map information including one ormore zones, each zone being associated with a rule that indicates adriver to take control of a control aspect of the vehicle; identifying,by a processor, a route based on the map information, where the routerequires the vehicle to pass through at least one zone of the one ormore zones; maneuvering, by the processor, the vehicle to thedestination; and when the vehicle is within a predetermined distancealong the route of the at least one zone, identifying the ruleassociated with the at least one zone, identifying the control aspect ofthe identified rule, and notifying the driver of the need to control theidentified control aspect through the at least one zone.

In one example, the identified control aspect includes at least one ofsteering, acceleration, and braking. In another example, the method alsoincludes receiving information indicating that the driver has takencontrol of the identified control aspect; waiting until the vehicle hasleft the at least one zone and the driver has relinquished control ofthe identified control aspect; and continuing to maneuver the vehiclealong the route towards the destination. In another example, the methodalso includes receiving input identifying a destination location andidentifying the route is further based on the destination location. Themethod may also include receiving instructions from the driver to avoidthe at least one zone; generating a new route to the destination whichdoes not pass through the at least one zone; and maneuvering the vehiclealong the new route. In another example, the method also includes, whenthe driver has not taken control of the identified control aspect andonce the vehicle reaches the at least one zone, maneuvering the vehiclethrough the at least one zone along the route. In another example, themethod also includes identifying a first location based on the drivercontrolling a given control aspect of the vehicle; identifying a secondlocation based on the driver relinquishing control of the given controlaspect of the control vehicle; generating a new zone based on the firstlocation and the second location; generating a new rule for the new zonebased on the given control aspect; and storing the new zone and the newrule with the map information. The method may also include transmittingthe new zone and the new rule to another vehicle.

Another aspect of the invention provides a tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium on which computer readable instructionsof a program are stored. The instructions, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform a method of maneuvering a vehicle. Themethod includes accessing map information including one or more zones,each zone being associated with a rule that indicates a driver to takecontrol of a control aspect of the vehicle; identifying, by a processor,a route based on the map information, where the route requires thevehicle to pass through at least one zone of the one or more zones;maneuvering, by the processor, the vehicle to the destination; and whenthe vehicle is within a predetermined distance along the route of the atleast one zone, identifying the rule associated with the at least onezone, identifying the control aspect of the identified rule, andnotifying the driver of the need to control the identified controlaspect through the at least one zone.

In one example, the identified control aspect includes at least one ofsteering, acceleration, and braking. In another example, the method alsoincludes receiving information indicating that the driver has takencontrol of the identified control aspect; waiting until the vehicle hasleft the at least one zone and the driver has relinquished control ofthe identified control aspect; and continuing to maneuver the vehiclealong the route towards the destination. In another example, the methodalso includes receiving input identifying a destination location andidentifying the route is further based on the destination location. Themethod may also include receiving instructions from the driver to avoidthe at least one zone; generating a new route to the destination whichdoes not pass through the at least one zone; and maneuvering the vehiclealong the new route. In another example, the method also includes, whenthe driver has not taken control of the identified control aspect andonce the vehicle reaches the at least one zone, maneuvering the vehiclethrough the at least one zone along the route. In another example, themethod also includes identifying a first location based on the drivercontrolling a given control aspect of the vehicle; identifying a secondlocation based on the driver relinquishing control of the given controlaspect of the control vehicle; generating a new zone based on the firstlocation and the second location; generating a new rule for the new zonebased on the given control aspect; and storing the new zone and the newrule with the map information. The method may also include transmittingthe new zone and the new rule to another vehicle.

Yet another aspect of the disclosure provides a vehicle. The vehicleincludes a plurality of control aspects for controlling movement of thevehicle; memory storing map information including one or more zones,each zone being associated with a rule that indicates a driver to takecontrol of at least one control aspect of the plurality of controlaspects; and a processor coupled to the plurality of control aspects andthe memory. The processor is operable to identify a route based on themap information, where the route requires the vehicle to pass through atleast one zone of the one or more zones; maneuver the vehicle along theroute; and when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance along theroute of the at least one zone, identify the rule associated with the atleast one zone, identify the control aspect of the identify rule, andnotify a driver of the need to control the identified control aspectthrough the at least one zone.

In one example, the processor is further operable to, when the driverhas not taken control of the identified control aspect and once thevehicle reaches the at least one zone, maneuver the vehicle through theat least one zone along the route. In another example, the processor isalso operable to identify a first location based on the drivercontrolling a given control aspect of the vehicle; identify a secondlocation based on the driver relinquishing control of the given controlaspect of the vehicle; generate a new zone based on the first locationand the second location; generate a new rule for the new zone based onthe given control aspect; and store the new zone and the new rule withthe map information. The processor may also be operable to operable totransmit the new zone and the new rule to another autonomous vehicle. Inanother example, the identified control aspect includes at least one ofa steering system, an acceleration system, and a braking system.

Still a further aspect of the disclosure provides a method ofmaneuvering a vehicle. The method includes maneuvering, by a processor,the vehicle along a current path on a roadway; determining whether thevehicle is within a distance along the current path of at least one zoneassociated with a rule that requires a driver to take control of atleast one control aspect of the vehicle; and when the vehicle is withinthe distance along the current path of the at least one zone, notifyingthe driver of the need to control the at least one control aspectthrough the at least one zone.

In one example, the at least one control aspect includes at least one ofsteering, acceleration, and braking. In another example, the method alsoincludes receiving information indicating that the driver has takencontrol of the identified control aspect; waiting until the vehicle hasleft the at least one zone and the driver has relinquished control ofthe identified control aspect; and continuing to maneuver the vehicle bythe processor. In another example, the method also includes, when thedriver has not taken control of the at least one control aspect and oncethe vehicle reaches the at least one zone, maneuvering the vehiclethrough the at least one zone. In another example, the method alsoincludes identifying a first location based on the driver controlling agiven control aspect of the vehicle; identifying a second location basedon the driver relinquishing control of the given control aspect of thevehicle; generating a new zone based on the first location and thesecond location; generating a new rule for the new zone based on thegiven control aspect; and storing the new zone and the new rule with themap information. The method may also include transmitting the new zoneand the new rule to another vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a system in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an interior of an autonomous vehicle in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exterior of an autonomous vehicle in accordance with anexemplary embodiment

FIG. 4 is a road map in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is another road map in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is another road map in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is another road map in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is another road map in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 9A-9C are flow diagrams in accordance with exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 10 is another exemplary road map in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, an autonomous driving system 100 in accordance withone aspect of the disclosure includes a vehicle 101 with variouscomponents. While certain aspects of the disclosure are particularlyuseful in connection with specific types of vehicles, the vehicle 101may be any type of vehicle including, but not limited to, cars, trucks,motorcycles, busses, boats, airplanes, helicopters, lawnmowers,recreational vehicles, amusement park vehicles, farm equipment,construction equipment, trams, golf carts, trains, and trolleys. Thevehicle may have one or more computers, such as computer 110 containinga processor 120, memory 130 and other components typically present ingeneral purpose computers.

The memory 130 stores information accessible by processor 120, includinginstructions 132 and data 134 that may be executed or otherwise used bythe processor 120. The memory 130 may be of any type capable of storinginformation accessible by the processor, including a computer-readablemedium, or other medium that stores data that may be read with the aidof an electronic device, such as a hard-drive, memory card, ROM, RAM,DVD or other optical disks, as well as other write-capable and read-onlymemories. Systems and methods may include different combinations of theforegoing, whereby different portions of the instructions and data arestored on different types of media.

The instructions 132 may be any set of instructions to be executeddirectly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by theprocessor. For example, the instructions may be stored as computer codeon the computer-readable medium. In that regard, the terms“instructions” and “programs” may be used interchangeably herein. Theinstructions may be stored in object code format for direct processingby the processor, or in any other computer language including scripts orcollections of independent source code modules that are interpreted ondemand or compiled in advance. Functions, methods and routines of theinstructions are explained in more detail below.

The data 134 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 120 inaccordance with the instructions 132. For instance, although the claimedsubject matter is not limited by any particular data structure, the datamay be stored in computer registers, in a relational database as a tablehaving a plurality of different fields and records, XML documents orflat files. The data may also be formatted in any computer-readableformat. By further way of example only, image data may be stored asbitmaps comprised of grids of pixels that are stored in accordance withformats that are compressed or uncompressed, lossless (e.g., BMP) orlossy (e.g., JPEG), and bitmap or vector-based (e.g., SVG), as well ascomputer instructions for drawing graphics. The data may comprise anyinformation sufficient to identify the relevant information, such asnumbers, descriptive text, proprietary codes, references to data storedin other areas of the same memory or different memories (including othernetwork locations) or information that is used by a function tocalculate the relevant data.

The processor 120 may be any conventional processor, such ascommercially available CPUs. Alternatively, the processor may be adedicated device such as an ASIC or other hardware-based processor.Although FIG. 1 functionally illustrates the processor, memory, andother elements of computer 110 as being within the same block, it willbe understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the processor,computer, or memory may actually comprise multiple processors,computers, or memories that may or may not be stored within the samephysical housing. For example, memory may be a hard drive or otherstorage media located in a housing different from that of computer 110.Accordingly, references to a processor or computer will be understood toinclude references to a collection of processors or computers ormemories that may or may not operate in parallel. Rather than using asingle processor to perform the steps described herein, some of thecomponents, such as steering components, acceleration and decelerationcomponents, may each have their own processor that only performscalculations related to the component's specific function.

In various aspects described herein, the processor may be locatedremotely from the vehicle and communicate with the vehicle wirelessly.In other aspects, some of the processes described herein are executed ona processor disposed within the vehicle and others by a remoteprocessor, including taking the steps necessary to execute a singlemaneuver.

Computer 110 may all of the components normally used in connection witha computer such as a central processing unit (CPU), memory (e.g., RAMand internal hard drives) storing data 134 and instructions such as aweb browser, an electronic display 142 (e.g., a monitor having a screen,a small LCD touch-screen or any other electrical device that is operableto display information), user input 140 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen and/or microphone), as well as various sensors (e.g., a videocamera) for gathering explicit (e.g., a gesture) or implicit (e.g., “theperson is asleep”) information about the states and desires of a person.

In one example, computer 110 may be an autonomous driving computingsystem incorporated into vehicle 101. FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary designof the interior of an autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle mayinclude all of the features of a non-autonomous vehicle, for example: asteering apparatus, such as steering wheel 210; a navigation displayapparatus, such as navigation display 215; and a gear selectorapparatus, such as gear shifter 220. The vehicle may also have varioususer input devices, such as gear shifter 220, touch screen 217, orbutton inputs 219, for activating or deactivating one or more autonomousdriving modes and for enabling a driver or driver 290 to provideinformation, such as a navigation destination, to the autonomous drivingcomputer 110.

Vehicle 101 may include one or more additional displays. For example,the vehicle may include a display 225 for displaying informationregarding the status of the autonomous vehicle or its computer. Inanother example, the vehicle may include a status indicating apparatus138 (see FIG. 1), such as status bar 230, to indicate the current statusof vehicle 101. In the example of FIG. 2, status bar 230 displays “D”and “2 mph” indicating that the vehicle is presently in drive mode andis moving at 2 miles per hour. In that regard, the vehicle may displaytext on an electronic display, illuminate portions of vehicle 101, suchas steering wheel 210, or provide various other types of indications.

The autonomous driving computing system may capable of communicatingwith various components of the vehicle. For example, returning to FIG.1, computer 110 may be in communication with the vehicle's centralprocessor 160 and may send and receive information from the varioussystems of vehicle 101, for example the braking 180, acceleration 182,signaling 184, and navigation 186 systems in order to control themovement, speed, etc. of vehicle 101. In addition, when engaged,computer 110 may control some or all of these functions of vehicle 101and thus be fully or merely partially autonomous. It will be understoodthat although various systems and computer 110 are shown within vehicle101, these elements may be external to vehicle 101 or physicallyseparated by large distances.

The vehicle may also include a geographic position component 144 incommunication with computer 110 for determining the geographic locationof the device. For example, the position component may include a GPSreceiver to determine the device's latitude, longitude and/or altitudeposition. Other location systems such as laser-based localizationsystems, inertial-aided GPS, or camera-based localization may also beused to identify the location of the vehicle. The location of thevehicle may include an absolute geographical location, such as latitude,longitude, and altitude as well as relative location information, suchas location relative to other cars immediately around it which can oftenbe determined with less noise that absolute geographical location.

The vehicle may also include other devices in communication withcomputer 110, such as an accelerometer, gyroscope or anotherdirection/speed detection device 146 to determine the direction andspeed of the vehicle or changes thereto. By way of example only,acceleration device 146 may determine its pitch, yaw or roll (or changesthereto) relative to the direction of gravity or a plane perpendicularthereto. The device may also track increases or decreases in speed andthe direction of such changes. The device's provision of location andorientation data as set forth herein may be provided automatically tothe user, computer 110, other computers and combinations of theforegoing.

The computer 110 may control the direction and speed of the vehicle bycontrolling various components. By way of example, if the vehicle isoperating in a completely autonomous mode, computer 110 may cause thevehicle to accelerate (e.g., by increasing fuel or other energy providedto the engine), decelerate (e.g., by decreasing the fuel supplied to theengine or by applying brakes) and change direction (e.g., by turning thefront two wheels).

The vehicle may also include one or more object detection components 148for detecting objects external to the vehicle such as other vehicles,obstacles in the roadway, traffic signals, signs, trees, etc. Thedetection system may include lasers, sonar, radar, cameras or any otherdetection devices which record data which may be processed by computer110. For example, if the vehicle is a small driver vehicle, the car mayinclude a laser mounted on the roof or other convenient location.

As shown in FIG. 3, small driver vehicle 300 may include lasers 310 and311, mounted on the front and top of the vehicle, respectively. Laser310 may have a range of 150 meters, a thirty degree vertical field ofview, and a thirty degree horizontal field of view. Laser 311 may have arange of 50-80 meters, a thirty degree vertical field of view, and a 360degree horizontal field of view. The lasers may provide the vehicle withrange and intensity information which the computer may use to identifythe location and distance of various objects. In one aspect, the lasersmay measure the distance between the vehicle and the object surfacesfacing the vehicle by spinning on its axis and changing its pitch.

The vehicle may also include various radar detection units, such asthose used for adaptive cruise control systems. The radar detectionunits may be located on the front and back of the car as well as oneither side of the front bumper. As shown in the example of FIG. 3,vehicle 300 includes radar detection units 320-323 located on the side(only one side being shown), front and rear of the vehicle. Each ofthese radar detection units may have a range of 200 meters for an 18degree field of view as well as a range of 60 meters for a 56 degreefield of view.

In another example, a variety of cameras may be mounted on the vehicle.The cameras may be mounted at predetermined distances so that theparallax from the images of 2 or more cameras may be used to compute thedistance to various objects. As shown in FIG. 3, vehicle 300 may include2 cameras 330-331 mounted under a windshield 340 near the rear viewmirror (not shown). Camera 330 may include a range of 200 meters and a30 degree horizontal field of view, while camera 331 may include a rangeof 100 meters and a 60 degree horizontal field of view.

The aforementioned sensors may allow the vehicle to evaluate andpotentially respond to its environment in order to maximize safety forthe driver, other drivers, as well as objects or people in theenvironment. It will be understood that the vehicle types, number andtype of sensors, the sensor locations, the sensor fields of view, andthe sensors' sensor fields are merely exemplary. Various otherconfigurations may also be utilized.

In addition to the sensors described above, the computer may also useinput from sensors typical non-autonomous vehicles. For example, thesesensors may include tire pressure sensors, engine temperature sensors,brake heat sensors, break pad status sensors, tire tread sensors, fuelsensors, oil level and quality sensors, air quality sensors (fordetecting temperature, humidity, or particulates in the air), etc.

Many of these sensors provide data that is processed by the computer inreal-time, that is, the sensors may continuously update their output toreflect the environment being sensed at or over a range of time, andcontinuously or as-demanded provide that updated output to the computerso that the computer can determine whether the vehicle's then-currentdirection or speed should be modified in response to the sensedenvironment.

In addition to processing data provided by the various sensors, thecomputer may rely on environmental data that was obtained at a previouspoint in time and is expected to persist regardless of the vehicle'spresence in the environment. For example, returning to FIG. 1, data 134may include detailed map information 136, e.g., highly detailed mapsidentifying the shape and elevation of roadways, lane lines,intersections, crosswalks, speed limits, traffic signals, buildings,signs, real time traffic information, or other such objects andinformation. For example, the map information may include explicit speedlimit information associated with various roadway segments. The speedlimit data may be entered manually or scanned from previously takenimages of a speed limit sign using, for example, optical-characterrecognition. The map information may include three-dimensional terrainmaps incorporating one or more of objects listed above. For example, thevehicle may determine that another car is expected to turn based onreal-time data (e.g., using its sensors to determine the current GPSposition of another car) and other data (e.g., comparing the GPSposition with previously-stored lane-specific map data to determinewhether the other car is within a turn lane).

Again, although the map information is depicted herein as an image-basedmap, the map information need not be entirely image based (for example,raster). For example, the map information may include one or moreroadgraphs or graph networks of information such as roads, lanes,intersections, and the connections between these features. Each featuremay be stored as graph data and may be associated with information suchas a geographic location and whether or not it is linked to otherrelated features, for example, a stop sign may be linked to a road andan intersection, etc. In some examples, the associated data may includegrid-based indices of a roadgraph to allow for efficient lookup ofcertain roadgraph features.

For example, map 400 of FIG. 4 is an exemplary pictorial representationof a portion of a roadgraph including a two lane road which passes undera highway 420 at overpass section 425. The map includes features such aseastbound lane 412, westbound lane 414, and exit lane 416 of the road410. Similarly, highway 420 includes a median 422, northbound lanes 426,southbound lanes 424, and shoulders 428. Eastbound lane of the road 410connects with highway 420 by way of exit lane 416, entrance ramp 430,and acceleration lane 440. The map may also include additional roadwaydetails such as double yellow lines 450 and lane lines 452 as well assigns (not shown) or other roadway features.

In some examples the map information may include zones. Each zone maycomprise a geolocated area or point associated with particular rules.The zones may include places where driving may become complicated orchallenging for humans and computers, such as merges, constructionzones, or other obstacles. As described in more detail below, a zone'srules may require an autonomous vehicle to alert the driver that thevehicle is approaching an area where it may be challenging for thevehicle to drive autonomously. In one example, the vehicle may require adriver to take control of steering, acceleration, deceleration, etc. Inanother example, a zone's rules may require an autonomous vehicle toalert the driver, but rather than requiring the driver to take control,the vehicle may lower its speed and/or increase its following distance(between the autonomous vehicle and another vehicle).

For example, as shown in map 500 of FIG. 5, the map information mayinclude zone 510. This zone includes acceleration lane 440 where merginginto traffic may be difficult for an autonomous vehicle. Because of thisdifficulty, zone 510 may be associated with a rule which requires adriver to take control of steering, acceleration, and/or braking of theautonomous vehicle while within zone 510.

In addition to the operations described above and illustrated in thefigures, various operations will now be described. It should beunderstood that the following operations do not have to be performed inthe precise order described below. Rather, various steps can be handledin a different order or simultaneously, and steps may also be added oromitted.

An autonomous vehicle may transport itself, a driver, passengers, and/orcargo between two locations by following a route. For example, a drivermay input a destination and activate an autonomous mode of the vehicle.In response, the vehicle's computer may calculate a route based on theroadgraph, its current location, and the destination. The route mayinclude information such as where to turn, at what speeds to travel,where to look for traffic signals, where to stop for intersections orstop signs, etc. For example, as shown in map 600 of FIG. 6, route 610may require an autonomous vehicle to take the road 410 and exit ontohighway 420. This may require the vehicle to travel in the eastboundlane 412 of the road 410 to exit lane 416 to entrance ramp 430 toacceleration lane 440 and onto highway 420. While not all routes mayinclude zones, in the example of FIG. 6, route 610 also requires theautonomous vehicle to pass through zone 510.

As shown in map 700 of FIG. 7, autonomous vehicle 300 travels alongroute 610. As autonomous vehicle 300 approaches zone 510, the autonomousvehicle's computer may identify the rules associated with zone 510. Asnoted above, zone 510's rules may require that a driver take control ofsteering, acceleration and braking while the autonomous vehicle passesthrough zone 510, for example, from point 710 to point 720 along route610.

The autonomous vehicle may notify a driver that the vehicle isapproaching a zone with particular rules by providing visual or audiblecues to the driver. The notifications may be based on a combination oftime and distance to the zone. If the autonomous vehicle is moving at areasonable speed, the notification may be based upon an estimated timeto cross the remaining distance to the zone. For example, if vehicle 1is moving at 25 miles per hour, the notification may be given whenvehicle 1 is X distance from the zone. If vehicle 2 is moving at 50miles per hour, the notification may be given when vehicle 2 is 2×distance from the zone. Thus, the time to the zone may be the same forboth vehicles 1 and 2. If the autonomous vehicle is moving at very slowspeeds, for example in stop-and-go traffic, the notification may bebased upon the distance to the zone.

For example, before reaching point 710, autonomous vehicle 300'scomputer may present a warning to the driver, for example on display225, on status bar 230, audibly, etc. indicating that the vehicle isapproaching or within some distance of a zone which requires the driverto take control of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle may display amap similar to map 700 highlighting the zone and announce through aspeaker “please take control of the vehicle while passing through thezone.” The warnings may also include flashing lights, beeping,vibrating, etc.

In response to the warning, the driver may select to navigate around thezone, ignore the zone and rules, or simply take over control of one ormore aspects of the autonomous vehicle. For example, the driver mayrequest that the autonomous vehicle route itself around the zone so thatthe driver does not need to take control. The driver may, for example,speak his request or select an option using one or more inputs, such asa touch screen or button inputs 219. The autonomous vehicle's computermay re-route itself and identify a new route which does not require thevehicle to pass through a zone.

In another example, the driver may elect to ignore the zone. Inresponse, the vehicle, if it is able, may continue to drive itselfthrough the zone. This may be helpful where there are no other vehicles,pedestrians, obstacles, etc. In this case, the vehicle may cease warningthe driver, may continue to warn the driver that the vehicle isapproaching a zone (until the vehicle reaches the zone), or the warningmay change, for example, where the vehicle is within the zone. The newwarning may be somewhat more serious, for example, warning that failureto take control may be dangerous in certain situations, increasingaudible or tactile cues, flashing lights, etc.

In some examples, the rules may only require that the driver takecontrol of the steering, acceleration and braking, or all of thesefeatures. For example, if the zone is a park or other location wherepedestrians are typically walking, the vehicle may slow downdramatically and require the driver only to steer by turning thesteering wheel 210. In another example, if the zone is a merge onto ahighway, the autonomous vehicle may steer itself to remain in the middleof the lane while the driver controls the acceleration and deceleration(gas and brake) to adjust the vehicle's speed based on merging traffic.

In yet another example, rather than following a particular route to adestination, a driver may instruct the autonomous vehicle to continue ona particular roadway until the driver resumes control or providesfurther instructions to the vehicle. For example, a driver may allow thevehicle's computer to steer the vehicle and control the vehicle's speedalong the highway until the driver takes control of the steering wheel,acceleration, braking, etc. In this example, the computer may controlthe vehicle to follow the path of the roadway or the particular lane inwhich the vehicle currently is. If the vehicle is approaching a zonethrough which the vehicle would pass if it continued along the currentpath, the computer may notify the driver of the approaching zone. Thecomputer may also identify the need to take control of some controlfeature (steering, braking, acceleration, etc.), and the computer mayalso take one or more of the actions described above. In response, asdescribed above, the driver may take control of the control feature,ignore the warning, route the vehicle around the zone, etc.

However, merely approaching a zone may not be sufficient to initiate thewarnings to a driver. For example, as shown in map 800 of FIG. 8,autonomous vehicle 300-A is traveling along route 810 approachingoverpass section 425 of highway 420 in eastbound lane 412 of the road410. Although the vehicle is approaching zone 510, the autonomousvehicle may not actually provide any warnings to the driver as thevehicle is not actually traveling through zone 510, but below the zone.Similarly, autonomous vehicle 300-B is traveling along route 820 in anorthbound lane 426 of highway 420 passing zone 510. Again, althoughvehicle 300-B may come very close to zone 510, the vehicle may notprovide its driver with a warning as the vehicle may not actually travelthrough zone 510, but next to the zone.

Flow diagram 900 of FIGS. 9A-9C provides an exemplary overview of theprocess described above. As shown in block 902 of FIG. 9A, an autonomousvehicle's computer may identify a destination location and a currentlocation of the vehicle. For example, a driver may enter a destinationlocation into a navigation device of the vehicle. The current locationof the vehicle may be determined based on data received from one or moregeographic location devices. At block 904, the computer accesses mapinformation including one or more zones. Each zone is associated with arule which requires a driver to take control of a control aspect of thevehicle. For example, a rule may require a driver to control thesteering, acceleration, and/or braking of the vehicle while the vehicleis in the zone. At block 906, the computer generates a route from thecurrent location to the destination location based on the mapinformation, where the route requires the vehicle to pass through atleast one zone. As noted above, the route need not include zones.

The computer then controls the vehicle to the destination along theroute at block 908. At block 910, the computer determines whether thevehicle is approaching the at least one zone. For example, based on thecurrent speed of the vehicle, the computer may determine whether thevehicle is within a particular distance from or an estimated time toreach the zone. If not, the computer continues to control the vehicle tothe destination at block 908. Returning to block 910, if the computerdetermines that the vehicle is approaching the at least one zone, thecomputer identifies the rule and the control aspect, associated with atleast one zone at block 912.

The computer then notifies the driver of the need to control theidentified control aspect through the at least one zone at block 914. Inone example, the computer receives information indicating that thedriver has taken control of the identified control aspect at block 916.The computer waits until the vehicle has left the at least one zone andthe driver has relinquished control of the identified control aspect atblock 918. The computer then continues to control the vehicle along theroute towards the destination at block 908.

In another example, the driver may decide to instruct the computer toavoid the at least one zone. As shown in block 920 of FIG. 9B, thecomputer receives instructions from the driver to avoid the zone. Inresponse, the computer generates a new route to the destination whichdoes not pass through the at least one zone at block 922. The computerthen continues to control the vehicle along the new route towards thedestination at block 908.

In yet another example, after notifying the driver of the approachingzone, the computer may receive no input as shown in block 924 of FIG.9C. The computer may continue to notify the driver of the need tocontrol the identified control aspect through the at least one zone.Once the vehicle reaches the at least one zone, the computer may controlthe vehicle through the at least one zone at block 926. The computerthen continues to control the vehicle along the route towards thedestination at block 908.

As noted above, the zones may be pre-identified in the roadgraph or maybe set on demand by a driver. For example, a driver who notices atemporary construction or roadblock may tag the location as one at whichvehicles should not drive autonomously. In that regard, the driver maytake control of the vehicle and at the same time, generate a zone rulefor the location. The new zone may begin where the driver has takencontrol of the autonomous vehicle and end where the driver hasrelinquished control to the computer. In some example, the new zones maybe temporarily stored by the vehicle. The length of time may be based onthe reason for the zone. For example, some construction projects maytake only a day while others may take much longer. In this example, thedriver may use the inputs to identify how long the computer is to keepthe zone.

For example, as shown in map 1000 of FIG. 10, autonomous vehicle 300 isdriving along roadway 1010. The roadway includes features such assouthbound lane 1002, northbound lane 1004, double yellow line 1006,lane lines 1008, etc. In this example vehicle 300 is following route1020 along northbound lane 1004. As vehicle 300 approaches point 1050,the driver may identify a temporary construction situation. In thisexample, cones 1030 have been set up to route vehicles around theconstruction vehicles 1040. Vehicle 300 may identify all of theseobjects, but its computer may determine that it is unable to routeitself through the cones as they would require the vehicle to pass intothe southbound lane. In this example, the driver may take control of thevehicle at point 1050 and relinquish control of the vehicle at point1060 when the vehicle has cleared the temporary construction situation.In response, the vehicle may generate a new zone in the northbound laneof roadway 1000 between points 1050 and 1060 where the driver tookcontrol of the vehicle.

Once the new zone has been generated, the new zone may also be broadcastto other nearby autonomous vehicles. For example, the autonomous vehiclemay use a radio link or other network such that other vehicles may beable to observe the same rule (take control of the steering,acceleration, and/or braking) at the new zone or notify the othervehicles' drivers that another driver felt the location was unsafe forautonomous driving. Returning to FIG. 10, vehicle 300 may transmit toinformation other vehicles identifying a new zone in northbound lane ofroadway 1000 between points 1050 and 1060 where the driver took controlof the vehicle. As another vehicle, following a route through point 1050towards point 1060 approach point 1050 the other vehicle may displaynotifications to its own driver. These notifications may be similar tothe notification described above, but may also indicate that the zonewas one recently identified by another driver.

The autonomous vehicle may also allow a driver to navigate around zonesor simply ignore them in advance. For example, the vehicle's defaultcondition may be to route the vehicle through zones if it is the fastestway to the destination. The driver may select to avoid zones whileentering a destination or may select to turn off the zone feature suchthat no warning is given and the vehicle drives through the zonesanyway. The driver may also select to ignore the zones permanently,ignore only those stored in the vehicle's map, or ignore zonesidentified by other drivers and broadcast by the other drivers'autonomous vehicles.

As these and other variations and combinations of the features discussedabove can be utilized without departing from the subject matter asdefined by the claims, the foregoing description of exemplaryembodiments should be taken by way of illustration rather than by way oflimitation of the subject matter as defined by the claims. It will alsobe understood that the provision of the examples described herein (aswell as clauses phrased as “such as,” “e.g.”, “including” and the like)should not be interpreted as limiting the claimed subject matter to thespecific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate onlysome of many possible aspects.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for maneuvering a vehicle, themethod comprising: accessing map information including one or morezones, each zone being associated with a rule that indicates a driver totake control of a control aspect of the vehicle; identifying, by aprocessor, a route based on the map information, where the routerequires the vehicle to pass through at least one zone of the one ormore zones; maneuvering, by the processor, the vehicle to a destinationby controlling a first control aspect and a second control aspectwithout continuous input from the driver, wherein the first and secondcontrol aspects are selected from the group consisting of acceleration,deceleration, and steering; when the vehicle is within a predetermineddistance along the route of the at least one zone, identifying the ruleassociated with the at least one zone, identifying the control aspect ofthe identified rule as the first control aspect, and notifying thedriver of the need to control the first control aspect through the atleast one zone; receiving input from the driver indicating that thedriver is controlling the first control aspect; and in response toreceiving the input and while the driver is controlling the firstcontrol aspect, continuing, by the processor, to control the secondcontrol aspect.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receivinginput identifying a destination location and wherein identifying theroute is further based on the destination location.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving information indicating that thedriver has taken control of the first control aspect; waiting until thevehicle has left the at least one zone and the driver has relinquishedcontrol of the first control aspect; and continuing, by the processor,to maneuver the vehicle along the route by controlling the first controlaspect and the second control aspect.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe first control aspect is the steering control.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the second control aspect is the acceleration control.
 6. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the first control aspect is the accelerationcontrol.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second control aspect isthe steering control.
 8. The method of claim 3, wherein the firstcontrol aspect is the deceleration control.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the second control aspect is the steering control.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first control aspect is the accelerationcontrol.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second control aspectis the steering control.
 12. A tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium on which computer readable instructionsof a program are stored, the instructions, when executed by a processor,cause the processor to perform a method of maneuvering a vehicle, themethod comprising: accessing map information including one or morezones, each zone being associated with a rule that indicates a driver totake control of a control aspect of the vehicle; identifying a routebased on the map information, where the route requires the vehicle topass through at least one zone of the one or more zones; maneuvering, bythe processor, the vehicle along the route by controlling a firstcontrol aspect and a second control aspect without continuous input fromthe driver, wherein the first and second control aspects are selectedfrom the group consisting of acceleration, deceleration, and steeringcontrols; when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance along theroute of the at least one zone, identifying the rule associated with theat least one zone, identifying the control aspect of the identified ruleas the first control aspect, and notifying the driver of the need tocontrol the first control aspect through the at least one zone;receiving input from the driver indicating that the driver iscontrolling the first control aspect; and in response to receiving theinput and while the driver is controlling the first control aspect,continuing to control the second control aspect through the at least onezone.
 13. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage mediumof claim 12, wherein the the first control aspect includes the steeringcontrol.
 14. The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storagemedium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: receivinginformation indicating that the driver has taken control of the firstcontrol aspect; waiting until the vehicle has left the at least one zoneand the driver has relinquished control of the identified controlaspect; and continuing to maneuver the vehicle along the route bycontrolling the first control aspect and the second control aspect. 15.The tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim12, further comprising receiving input identifying a destinationlocation and wherein identifying the route is further based on thedestination location.
 16. A device comprising: memory storing mapinformation including one or more zones, each zone being associated witha rule that indicates a driver to take control of at least a firstcontrol aspect of the plurality of control aspects; a processor coupledto the plurality of control aspects and the memory, the processor beingoperable to: identify a route based on the map information, where theroute requires the vehicle to pass through at least one zone of the oneor more zones; maneuver the vehicle along the route by controlling thefirst control aspect and a second control aspect without continuousinput from the driver, wherein the first and second control aspects areselected from the group consisting of acceleration, deceleration, andsteering controls; and when the vehicle is within a predetermineddistance along the route of the at least one zone, identify the ruleassociated with the at least one zone, identify the control aspect ofthe identified rule, and notify a driver of the need to control at leastthe first control aspect through the at least one zone; receiving inputfrom the driver indicating that the driver is controlling the firstcontrol aspect; and in response to receiving the input and while thedriver is controlling the first control aspect, continuing to controlthe second control aspect through the at least one zone.
 17. The deviceof claim 16, wherein the first control aspect is the steering control.18. The device of claim 16, wherein the second control aspect is theacceleration control.
 19. A method of maneuvering a vehicle, the methodcomprising: maneuvering, by a processor, the vehicle along a currentpath on a roadway by controlling a first control aspect and a secondcontrol aspect without continuous input from the driver, wherein thefirst and second control aspects are selected from the group consistingof acceleration, deceleration, and steering controls; determiningwhether the vehicle is within a distance along the current path of atleast one zone associated with a rule that requires a driver to takecontrol of at least the first control aspect of the vehicle; and whenthe vehicle is within the distance along the current path of the atleast one zone, notifying the driver of the need to control at least thefirst control aspect through the at least one zone; receiving input fromthe driver indicating that the driver is controlling the first controlaspect; and in response to receiving the input and while the driver iscontrolling the first control aspect, continuing to control the secondcontrol aspect through the at least one zone.
 20. The method of claim19, further comprising: receiving information indicating that the driverhas taken control of the first control aspect; waiting until the vehiclehas left the at least one zone and the driver has relinquished controlof the first control aspect; and continuing, by the processor, tomaneuver the vehicle along the route by controlling the first controlaspect and the second control aspect.